Tip-perforating machine.



PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

T. P. HART. TIP PERFORATING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED APR. 24,1905.

C222: jnvenifbr. 515M PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

T. F. HART.

TIP PERPORATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24,1905.

2 SHBETSSHBET 2.

I71 0671102". I 4: J 54 M W" i UNITED STATES PATENT @FFIGE.

TlP-PERFORATING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Application filed April 24, 1905. Serial No. 257,076.

T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. HART, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tip-Perforating Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for simultaneously forming in a piece of leather or other material a number of orifices, the machine being intended particularly for forming ornamental orifices in toe-caps for boot and shoe uppers.

The invention has for its object to provide an improved machine of this character having a gang of punches adapted to simultaneously form a series of orifices and an adjustable and readily-renewable cutting-bed which is composed of an elongated strip of sheet-copper or other suitable metal, the said bed being adjustable to present a fresh cutting-surface to the punches Whenever necessary.

The invention consists in the improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a punching-machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the same. a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a section on line 1 1 of Fig. 1 and a plan view of parts below said line. Fig. 5 represents a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4 looking toward the left. Fig. 6 represents a plan view of a portion of the machine. Fig. 7 represents a section on line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, 10 represents the supporting-frame of the machine, having bearings for the driving-shaft 12. To said shaft is affixed an eccentric 13, which imparts a vertical reciprocating motion to a yoke 140, which is affixed to a cross-head 1 1, said motion being imparted to the yoke 1 10 through atwo-part block 15, which embraces the eccentric and is contained within the yoke. The ends of the cross-head are guided by the frame, so that the cross-head has a rectilinear upward and downward movement. 16 represents a punch plate which is adapted to bear on a seat presented by the upper end of the cross-head and detachably secured thereto by means hereinafter described, said plate having a gang of punches 17 which may be of different sizes Fig. 3 representsand are adapted to form a series of ornamental perforations in atip. The cross-head 14 is provided at its rear edge with two upwardly-projecting ears 18, each having astud 180, Fig. 4:, adapted to enter an orifice in the rear edge of the punch-plate. The cars 18 form a stop for the rear edge of the punch-plate, and the studs 180 prevent the rear edge of the punch-plate from being lifted from the crosshead. The punch-plate is adapted to be inserted from the front side of the machine viz.. the side at the right as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3. When the rear edge of the punchplate abuts against the ears 18, a swinging plate or catch 19, afiixed to a stud 20, which is journaled in the front portion of the crosshead, is swung upwardly by means of a handle 21, the said plate having a segmental groove 22, (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1,) which engages a stud 23, projecting from the front edge of the plate 16. The plate is thus firmly locked to the cross-head. The plate 19 is cut away at one side, as shown in Fig. 1, so that it may be turned to disengage the groove 22 from the stud 23, and thus release the punch-plate.

2 1 represents a fixed backing-plate for theadjustable bed hereinafter described. Said plate forms the upper side of a space or throat, the lower side of which is formed by a stripper-plate 25, which cooperates, as hereinafter described, with the punchers 17. The plate 24 serves as a support or backing for an elongated cutting-bed 26, of sheet metal, preferably copper, with which the punches cooperate in forming orifices in the material. The bed 26 is sufiiciently flexible to enable it to be bent over the top of the machine and to extend downwardly at the rear side, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

29 and 30 represent feed-rolls, which are arranged to grasp the sheet 26 and are adapted to be rotated to move the sheet endwise. Saidfeed-rolls are journaled in bearings on the frame of the machine and are connected by means of gears 81 31, Fig. 1, so that they rotate in opposite directions. To the upper feed-roll 29 is aflixed a hand-wheel 32, which enables the operator to rotate the rolls and feed the bed-strip to the extent required. It is not necessary to feed the bed after each operation of the punches, but only after the bed has been indented by several contacts of the punches with it.

Owing to variations in the sizes of the punches employed, it is desirable to provide indexing means whereby the operator can feed the bed the exact distance required to present a fresh surface to the punches without feeding the bed too far, and thus wasting the cutting-surface. To this end the shaft 34 of the feed-roll 29 is provided with a collar 35, having a number of peripheral rows of holes 36, which are differently spaced.

37 represents a spring-arm pivoted at 38 and having a finger 39 adapted to engage either of the holes 36.

When punches of the smallest size are used, the operator will swing the arm 37 over the row of holes which are the most closely spaced, the finger 39 springing into one of said holes and locking the feed-rolls. When the bed is to be advanced, the arm 37 is raised to withdraw the finger and the feed-rolls are rotated until the finger springs into the next hole, the length of movement of the bed being determined by the distance between the holes. The arm 37 can be swung on its pivot 38 to cause its finger to cooperate with the holes of either row.

The driving-shaft 12 is rotated by power applied in any suitable way, preferably by a belt running on a pulley 10, mounted on said shaft. A suitable automatic stop mechanism is preferably provided to arrest the movement of the shaft after each complete rotation and while the punches are depressed, the arrangement being such that the perforating movement of the punches will not be repeated until the operator depresses a treadle or otherwise causes a resumption of the operation of the driving-shaft. The said stop mechanism is shown in elevation at 50 in Fig. 1; but as mechanisms for the same purpose are well known it is not described in detail.

It will be seen that each upward movement of the punches causes them to perforate a tip inserted in the above-mentioned throat and that the strip 26, backed by the plate 24, forms the actual cutting-bed. The direction of greatest length of the gang of punches is substantially at right angles with the feed movement of the strip, and the width of the strip is slightly in excess of the length of the gang of punches. The strip therefore has to be fed only a distance corresponding to the width of the gang of punches. Hence a short feed movement is all that is required.

The stripper 25, above referred to, besides forming the under side of the work-receiving throat strips the work from the punches when the latter descend, thus leaving the work free to be withdrawn from the throat. The said stripper is a thin metal plate having perforations which register with the punches and provided with downwardly-projecting studs or dowels 41, which are adapted to slide in orifices formed for their reception in the punch-plate 16, said dowels projecting through the punch-plate, as shown in Fig. 5, and resting loosely upon arms or stops 12, affixed to the frame of the machine, the arrangement being such that when the punch-plate rises to perforate the work the dowels 4:1 and the stripper rise with the punch-plate from the stops 42; but when the punch-plate is depressed the dowels 41 abut against the stops 12 and arrest the downward movement of the stripper-plate, so that the punches are withdrawn from the stripper-plate by the continned downward movement of the punchplate, the work being thus positively stripped from the punches.

The punch-plate is provided at its rear portion with a gage or stop 45 to limit the insertion of the tip into the throat and hold its edge in proper relation to the punches.

46 represents a cavity in the cross-head un der the punch-plate, said cavity receiving the leather blanks that are forced downwardly through the punches and having an outlet 47, through which the blanks escape at the back of the machine.

Means are provided for adjusting the extremes of the rise and fall of the punches, said means comprising a wedge 50, interposed between the cross-head 14 and the block 15, as shown in Fig. 3. Said wedge is secured to a screw-threaded shan 51, which is engaged by a nut 52. The nut is adapted to rotate, but is prevented from moving lengthwise of the shank 51 by a retaining-finger 53 entering a groove in the nut, so that rotation of the nut moves the wedge either inwardly to raise the cross-head and punches or outwardly to depress the same.

I claim 1. A perforating machine comprising a cross-head or carrier having a row or gang of punches, mechanism for reciprocating the cross-head, a fixed backing-plate opposed to the punches,an adjustable sheet-metal cuttingbed movable across the backing-plate, feedrolls engaging the cutting-bed and arranged to feed the bed crosswise of the row or gang of punches, and hand-controlled means for rotating said feed-rolls.

2. A perforating-machine comprising a cross-head or carrier having a gang of punches, mechanism for reciprocating the cross-head, a fixed backing-plate opposed to the punches, an adjustable sheet-metal cutting-bed movable across the backing-plate, feed-rolls engaged with the strip, hand-operated mechanism for rotating said rolls to feed the bed, and adjustable indexing means for determining the rotation of the feed-rolls and the feed movement of the bed.

3. A perforating machine comprising a cross-head or carrier having a gang of punches, mechanism for reciprocating the cross-head, a fixed backing-plate opposed to the punches, an adjustable sheet-metal bed movable across the backing-plate, feed-rolls engaged with the strip, a collar afiixed to the shaft of one of said rolls and having rows of holes difierently spaced, and an adjustable arm having a finger adapted to engage said holes.

A. A perforatingn'iachine comprising a reciprocating cross-head or carrier having a gang of punches, a bed opposed to the punches, a stripper plate apertured to receive the punches and loosely supported by the crosshead or carrier, the stripper-plate being movable With the punches, and means for arresting the stripper-plate While the punches are being retracted, whereby the plate is caused to positively strip the Work from the punches.

5. A perforating-machine comprising a reciprocating cross-head or carrier, a punchplate having a gang of punches, means for detachably securing the plate to the carrier, a stripper plate apertured to receive the punches and having studs engaged With guides in the plate, and fixed stops arranged to engage said studs and prevent the retraction of the stripper with the punches.

6. A perforating-machine comprising a reciprocating cross-head or carrier having a punch-plate seat, and a plate adapted to bear on said seat and having a gang of punches, the rear portions of the cross-head and plate having complemental interlocking members, While the front portion of the cross-head has a movable locking member adapted to engage a complemental locking member on the front portion of the punch-plate.

7. A perforating machine comprising a cross-head or carrier supporting a gang of punches,a cutting-bed opposed to the punches, a reciprocating block or slide, a yoke on the cross-head engaged with the block and means carried by the cross-head for adjusting it rela- G. F. BROWN, E. BATOHELDER. 

